Yard Drainage and French Drains in Candler, NC
Water off, ground dry.
Candler is the Hominy Valley, with farm bottom along the creek and houses climbing the ridges on either side. Water that lands on the hillside subdivisions ends up in the pastures and yards below. McKinley works both ends of that: catching water above the house on the slope, and getting it off the flat ground at the bottom.
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Yard drainage in Candler
Farm bottom below, subdivisions above
Candler is unincorporated Buncombe County west of Asheville, along US-19/23 and Smokey Park Highway toward Canton, with NC 151 climbing south toward Mount Pisgah. Hominy Creek runs the length of the valley to the French Broad. The flat ground beside it has been farmed for two centuries.
The houses went up the sides. Older places and manufactured homes on the lower slopes, and newer subdivisions higher up on ground that was woods twenty years ago. Each new roof and drive up there sends more water down, faster, onto the yards and pastures below. That is where most of the drainage calls come from.
Wet ground under a mobile home
A lot of Candler housing is manufactured homes set on cut pads on the lower slopes. The pad was cut into the hill, the bank behind it was left bare, and the water moving through that bank has nowhere to go but under the home. The skirting hides it until the floors feel soft or the ductwork is sitting in mud.
McKinley runs an interceptor French drain along the uphill side of the pad, deep enough to meet the water. Fabric, washed stone and perforated pipe go in, laid with fall around the home to daylight below. The ground under the home is regraded so what does get in can leave. If the bank is also slumping, that becomes a retaining wall in Candler with the drain behind it.
The low yard on the valley floor
On the flat ground along Hominy Creek and its branches, the problem is that water arrives from everywhere and leaves slowly. The water table is close to the surface, the yard holds every rain, and the drive turns to soup where it crosses the low spot.
The fix starts with finding somewhere lower: a ditch, the creek side of the lot, a culvert under the road. Then a French drain or a swale carries the yard's water there, and the downspouts are buried to the same outlet. The drive gets a culvert where it crosses the wet ground. Near the creek, the county's flood maps decide how much fill can go in.
Water coming down the subdivision
On the hillside lots the complaint is water arriving from above. The drive washes every storm, a gully is cutting down the side yard, or the ground along the uphill wall of the house never dries. Where the ground above you was cleared and built on, there is more water than there used to be.
The answer is to catch it high and carry it past. A swale or a catch basin at the top of the lot collects the surface water, and an interceptor drain catches what is moving through the soil. Both pipe to an outlet downhill with riprap at the end. The guide to fixing a washed-out driveway covers the drive side of the same problem.
Permits, NC811 and what else is in the way
Candler has no town government, so Buncombe County Planning & Development is the office for anything that needs asking. Its erosion control permit starts at an acre of disturbance, or a quarter acre in a hillside subdivision, and most yard drainage work is far under that. Before any trench, NC811 needs three working days to mark member utilities. Wells, septic lines and private water lines are not on the locate, so point them out.
An old shed, a collapsed carport or a slab sitting where the drain needs to run is taken out first, which is covered under demolition in Candler.
A price, on site
The number depends on the length and depth of the run, how far the water has to travel to an outlet and whether a culvert or regrading is part of it. How easily the excavator or the mini can reach the spot matters too. McKinley walks it with you, free, ideally after rain when the water is showing.
You get one figure for the whole job. The main drainage page covers ditches, catch basins, culverts and riprap, and the Asheville service area page lists everything M&S does on this side of town.
Yard Drainage & French Drains
Yards that never dry, water against the house, seeping hillsides: French drains, regrading, catch basins and buried downspouts.
See the serviceTalk to McKinley(828) 540-6856
Call or text McKinley with where the water shows up and whether it comes from above or just sits. He comes out and walks it before pricing.
Call nowWhat that covers
- Interceptor drains. A French drain along the uphill side of a pad or house, piped to daylight.
- Under mobile homes. Water caught before the pad and the ground beneath regraded to drain.
- Valley-floor yards. Swales, buried downspouts and drains to the nearest low point.
- Drive culverts. Pipe set with fall where the drive crosses wet ground, riprap at the outlet.
Candler, NC
West of Asheville along US-19/23 and Smokey Park Highway, mostly unincorporated Buncombe County with farms, mobile homes and new subdivisions on the hillsides.
Town pageAlso in CandlerDemolition in Candler, NC
See the pageAlso in CandlerRetaining Walls in Candler, NC
See the pageThe serviceYard Drainage & French Drains
Yards that never dry, water against the house, seeping hillsides: French drains, regrading, catch basins and buried downspouts.
Main service pageCandler and the towns nearby
Candler is handled from Asheville, fifteen minutes east on the highway, and the work runs west along the valley toward Canton as well. McKinley does the same hillside and bottomland drainage in Asheville and north of town around Weaverville, and the flat subdivision version of it south along Hendersonville Road in Arden and Fletcher. The Asheville service area page covers Candler and lists everything M&S does on this side of town, from gravel drives and pads to walls and clearing.
You get McKinley. Not a crew he sent.
You call
You call or text. McKinley comes out and looks at the job with you, on the ground, rather than pricing it off a photograph.
A number first
You get one figure before anything starts, with the hauling and the finish grading in it.
He runs the machine
Then he shows up and runs the machine himself.
Ground left usable
Voids get filled, water is given a way out, and the ground is left so you can build, pour or seed.
Photos of his work.
These are photographs from actual jobs. See more recent work. Or read about the full yard drainage & french drains service.
Questions people ask
Not seeing yours? Call (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.
The ground under my mobile home is always wet. What fixes that?
On a Candler cut pad it is usually water moving through the bank behind the home. An interceptor French drain along the uphill side catches it and pipes it around to daylight below, and the ground under the home is regraded so it can drain. If the bank is slumping too, it gets a wall with the drain behind it.
My yard on the valley floor never dries. Is there anything to do?
If there is somewhere lower to send the water, yes: a ditch, the creek side of the lot or a road culvert. McKinley runs a French drain or a swale to it and buries the downspouts to the same outlet. Near Hominy Creek, the flood maps limit how much fill can go in.
The subdivision above me sends water down my drive. Can you stop it?
It can be caught and carried past. A swale or catch basin at the top of the lot takes the surface water, an interceptor drain takes what is in the soil, and both pipe to an outlet downhill. The drive itself is then rebuilt with a crown and a ditch.
Do I need a permit for drainage work in Candler?
With no town government in Candler, Buncombe County Planning & Development is the office to ask. Its erosion control permit starts at an acre, or a quarter acre in a hillside subdivision, and most yard drainage jobs are well under that. NC811 marks utilities first, with three working days' notice.
What does a French drain cost in Candler?
Length, depth, distance to the outlet and how easily a machine can reach the spot. The estimate is free and on site, and you get one number with the hauling and finish grading in it.
Other work he takes on
Most jobs end up being two or three of these at once, and they get quoted together.
Yard Drainage & French Drains in other towns
Gravel Driveways
A new drive cut into the hill, based in lifts and crowned to shed water.
Learn moreDriveway Repair & Grading
Washouts, ruts and potholes fixed at the cause, not just regraded.
Learn moreDrainage & Erosion Control
French drains, catch basins, culverts and riprap so the property sheds water.
Learn moreRetaining Walls
Block, boulder and riprap walls that hold a cut bank up.
Learn moreLand Clearing
Lots, building sites and overgrown acreage cleared, stumps and root mat out.
Learn moreHouse Pads & Site Prep
Pads cut, filled and compacted on ground that started at anything but level.
Learn moreFree estimate in Candler.
Where it is, how long the drive is, how steep it gets and what it is doing now. We come out, walk it, and give you a real number.
- Free on-site estimates across WNC and the Upstate
- One crew from clearing through to the last load of stone
- Drainage designed in, not sold to you afterwards
Need yard drainage in Candler?
Call or text McKinley. He walks the ground before he gives you a price.